The Niagara Purple Eagles enter Friday’s 2 p.m. contest at the Alumni Center against the UB Bulls with two-straight wins under their belt.

Niagara (5-4) comes to the table with its first above-.500 record since the 2006-07 season.  Sunday’s 66-63 win over Colgate came down to a pair of late free throws and a defensive stop as time expired.  The Purple Eagles look to carry the momentum from their first overtime victory since 2010 on the road as they look for their first win in Alumni Arena since 2004.

Buffalo (1-9) is looking for its first home win of the season as the Bulls enter Sunday with a 0-4 home record.  The team’s only win this year came on the road against Oakland before entering its current seven-game losing streak. 

How to Tune In
Fans can tune into Friday’s game via Purple Eagles All-Access with announcer Dave Universal.

Last Time Out...
Meghan McGuinness hit a pair of late free throws to give the Niagara the win in an overtime thriller against the Colgate Raiders 66-63 on Sunday night in the Gallagher Center.

Lauren Gatto opened overtime with the last of her team-high 18 points to put Niagara ahead 64-62.  The Raiders hit the front end of an 1-and-1 to climb back within a point with time running out Colgate sent McGuinness to the line with 9.7 seconds left in the game.  The sophomore hit both to give Niagara its final 66-63 lead.

On The Court: Buffalo Bulls (1-9, 0-0 MAC)
The Bulls come into Friday’s game with an 0-4 record at Alumni Arena in the 2012-13 season.  So far they have taken on Youngstown State, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure, and Binghamton.  The team’s lone victory so far this season came on the road in a 61-59 decision over Oakland.

Buffalo is led by freshman forward Rachel Gregory who is scoring 12.1 ppg and adding another 6.8 rpg. 

Against the Bulls (Niagara leads 18-13)
Niagara greatest run of success came when it won 14-straight games from 1976 to 1993.  Buffalo has had the upper-hand recently, winning the last seven meetings.

On The Road Again
The Purple Eagles are in a stretch where they play 4-of-5 games on the road.  They’ve already faced Lehigh and Binghamton and still have to play at Buffalo and Michigan.  The only home contest in this stretch was the 66-63 overtime win against Colgate on Dec. 16.

All-Time In December
Niagara has played to a 112-124 record all time in the month of December.  The most success the program had in the 12th month of the year came between 1976-89 when it went 50-38.  This season the team is 3-1.

Flying High
With the win over Colgate, the Purple Eagles have won four out of their last five games after starting the year off with a 1-3 record. 

Winning Numbers
Through their last four victories, the Purple Eagles have been led on offense by Lauren Gatto’s 16.8 ppg.  Kayla Stroman and Chanel Johnson are both close to joining the double-digit club with 9.8 ppg and 9.5 ppg, respectively.

As a team they are scoring 70.2 ppg, as opposed to their season average of 65.0 ppg, and are shooting 44.1 percent from the floor. 

Rummy 500
Niagara is above .500 for the first time since the 2006-07 season when it started out 6-3 through the first nine games.  This season they are 5-4.

The Last Time
The last time the Purple Eagles tamed the Bulls was at Alumni Arena on December 11, 2004 when they topped UB 68-65 in overtime.  Eva Cunningham scored seven points in the extra period to propel Niagara to victory.

Big Four Honors
The Purple Eagles earned Big Four preseason honors at the Big Four media day on Oct. 25th.  Junior Kayla Stroman was named preseason Player of the Year and the All-Big Four First Team.  Lauren Gatto and Meghan McGuinness made the All-Big Four Second Team.